How Ben Griffin watched his week end at Colonial Country Club

FORT WORTH, Texas — The last group was on the par-4 15th hole when Ben Griffin finished. He signed for a 5-under 65 and waited to see if 11-under par would be enough.

“You never know here at Colonial,” he said.

The defending champion at the Charles Schwab Challenge joined his wife and his caddie at a quiet table in the air conditioning of the spacious Men's 19th Hole at Colonial Country Club. Griffin had just noted in an interview that he wasn’t “the type of person to go and hide in a corner and just, like, put pressure on myself or whatnot." He admitted he “probably wouldn’t have a beer.” After all, Eric Cole, Russell Henley, Alex Smalley and Mac Meissner had plenty of golf left out in the sizzling Texas sun.

Griffin might have golf to play, too.

His table happened to be situated right in front of a wall listing the champions of the tournament since its founding in 1946, when Ben Hogan won with a score of 1-under-par 279. Hogan, incidentally, also won in 1947, becoming the only back-to-back winner in tournament history. Griffin had a chance to join the great Hogan in that accomplishment, if Cole, Henley, Smalley and Meissner managed no better than 11 under.

Griffin sat back to watch.

The Men’s 19th Hole at Colonial had six televisions tuned to the CBS broadcast. Various players, caddies, spouses, friends, managers and Colonial members sat around the recessed bar, sipping smoothies and iced teas. Griffin’s blue golf bag stood next to his table. It was a special edition bag for the Charles Schwab. Maxfli, one of Griffin’s sponsors, had created the bag with Colonial tartan accents and the club’s logo on the ball pocket.

He and his table, which now included six people, watched Meissner birdie the par-3 16th to get to 11 under, tying Griffin, who was the first to post 269.

Griffin watched Henley birdie No. 17, his second in a row, to get there too. He nodded silently when Cole hit a magnificent approach to the par-4 17th.

Cole missed the putt. Griffin did not react.

Griffin was, at the age of 30, a wiser and more seasoned player than he was a year ago, when he arrived at Colonial a year ago as the winner of one tournament — the Zurich Classic of New Orleans with Andrew Novak — but more to prove. He shot a final-round 71 that was good enough to win his first individual title on the PGA TOUR. A couple of weeks later, he tied for 10th in the U.S. Open, and he tied for 10th at the TOUR Championship in August. Griffin ended his season with another win, his third of the year, which he will never forget, at the World Wide Technology Championship. He made the U.S. Ryder Cup team.

“Once you win out here you just feel like you're at a different level,” he’d said in the interview after his round. “I know I can do it, that's the biggest thing. When you're a rookie you're not sure if you can really do it. You have that belief, but until you actually do it you can't rely on that confidence and experience to get you over the hump the next time.”

The next time had arrived.

Griffin watched Henley hit his approach to 16 feet on the 18th. Another nod from the man who, just a few years ago, had decided to give up competitive golf and work in private industry. He played recreational golf with a few colleagues who believed more in Griffin than he did himself. They encouraged him to come back, which he did. The rest is for the record books.

Now, as he waited to see if 11 under would hold, Griffin was the 17th-ranked player in the world and something of a household name in his wire-framed sunglasses. He was one of the best scorers in the professional game, ranking 21st on the season in Strokes Gained: Putting and 11th in SG: Around-the-Green. None of that really mattered on this afternoon at Colonial, but his prowess with the short club had gotten him into the position where he dared not leave the Men's 19th Hole until he knew if he was in a playoff or done for the day. On Sunday, Griffin ranked sixth in Srokes Gained: Putting, seventh in Putts per Green in Regulation, and eighth in SG: Approach-to-Green.

“I feel like for me this year I just have a lot more confidence and a lot more belief in myself,” he said after his round. “Not that I didn't have the belief prior, but it's just more – because I've earned it and because I've been able to get over that hump it just makes you more and more comfortable and that's really the big difference.”

On the broadcast, everyone on the Men's 19th Hole saw Cole hit a perfect, piercing drive on his last hole of regulation. Then, in the group ahead, Henley stood over his putt to move to 12 under.

Much of the room erupted when the putt fell. Griffin's table did not.

With a wan smile, Griffin shook various hands offered in congratulations for a fight well fought. His wife patted his shoulder. Henley walked through, soaked in sweat, on his way to scoring. Griffin gave him a fist-bump. Cole had a testy little shot from the edge of the green to tie Henley. He missed.

It didn’t matter to Griffin now. He rose and walked to the bar in the middle of the room, soon to fly to Columbus for the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday.

He returned with that beer.